Review
I didn’t expect to be as moved as I was while reading Wayward Girls. Each girl’s background was heartbreaking and tragic, which makes the survival and redemption that much more powerful. This book serves as a cautionary tale for religious abuse that girls and women have endured for decades and could continue to traumatize women for the sake of control and “reform.” The fact that is based on true events proves it.
This book will make you feel things, but please look out for yourself and heed the trigger warnings. Sensitive topics include teen pregnancy, sexual assault, forced adoption, religious abuse, post-partum depression, systemic oppression, and misogyny.
Susan Wiggs joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about her research and experiences as a writer. Wayward Girls is available on July 15.
Book
In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd—a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns—locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.
Mairin— free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, committed to keep her safe from her stepfather.
Angela—denounced for her attraction to girls, sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.
Helen—the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, she saw her “temporary” stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.
Odessa—caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, she found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.
Denise—sentenced for brawling in a foster home, she dared to dream of a better life.
Janice—deeply insecure, she couldn’t decide where her loyalty lay—except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.
Sister Bernadette—rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.
Wayward Girls is a haunting but thrilling tale of hope, solidarity, and the enduring strength of young women who find the courage to break free and find redemption…and justice.
